Curse And Craving

15

When I opened the door to exit his car, he spoke softly. “Try to keep yourself out of trouble, Rebecca.” He held my eyes for a couple of beats longer than necessary, igniting a sudden surge of feelings in me more intense than I cared to recognize. Once I was safely inside, his black car sped off into the night. In a zombie-like state, I dragged myself upstairs, then removed my makeup and put on pajamas. My brain had blown a circuit, leaving my mind mercifully blank. I fell into a blissfully dreamless sleep. I WOKE with the dawning awareness that my face was resting in a puddle of drool. I’d slept for over ten hours. Grogginess clung to my eyelids until a freight train of memories from the night before slammed into me, rocketing me upright. Ashley was in the hospital. I glanced around and confirmed that she wasn’t in bed with me. The black dress I had worn last night was wadded up on the floor, and a glance down at my arm where the Draug had held me revealed a large fading bruise. I was surprised at its blue and green coloring as if it were already several days old. My dark complexion had never bruised easily, and I healed faster than most of my friends, so I wasn't terribly unsettled, but it was odd enough to catch my notice. Add it to the ever-growing list. What was it about this place? If I were to leave Belfast, would the craziness follow me? Had it always existed, and I’d simply been too oblivious to see it? I desperately wanted to run back home and pretend this had all been a horrible dream, but a sinking feeling inside me felt more and more adamant these things were happening to me for a reason. I couldn’t simply ignore the facts without getting some answers first. That was what I would do. I would get some answers, then pack up and leave. Maybe if I discovered that my necklace was at the bottom of these crazy events, I could get rid of it and go back to my normal, boring life. A surge of hope fluttered in my chest. My fingers clasped the pendant on my chest, and I held the stone that had basically been a part of me for as long as I could remember. My mom had always been more about the earth and transcendence than personal possessions like jewelry. Because of that, I had assumed that growing up under her influence was why I had never wanted to change out the necklace with something new and shiny. Thinking back on my conversation with Ashley, I couldn't help but wonder if my attachment to the necklace had been more abnormal than I wanted to admit. Slipping off the bed, I went to the cheap mirror hung on the back of the bedroom door and studied the necklace intently. Inch by inch, my arms lifted toward the back of my neck, and my skin broke out in goose bumps even though the room was plenty warm. My stomach roiled as I forced my fingers to the clasp. I stood there, hands behind my neck, and held my own eyes in the reflection as a nauseating revelation hit me. I couldn't make myself take it off. My fingers worked, in theory, but I couldn't seem to carry out the command. Like the signal was being sent from my brain, but there was interference in the synapses on the way to my fingers, and the message was lost. Take off the necklace. You can do it. Just open the clasp. My body stood perfectly motionless. Not a muscle moved. Finally, I let my arms fall to my sides with a defeated sigh. As much as I wanted to believe that this was all some kind of mix-up, I would be lying to myself. Something about my necklace was special. I hadn’t fallen into a mess. I was at the center of it. I stepped closer to the mirror, just inches away, and turned my body to the side in an attempt to see the back of my neck. Worse than I had suspected, there wasn't a single mark from the Draug’s brutal yank on the chain—not a cut, not any scabbing, not even a bruise or a welt. My necklace was magic. How else did I explain it? That was why the Draug had targeted me. How the hell had I acquired a magic necklace? How had I gone this long without knowing? I thought back at how I had obtained the piece of jewelry and drew a blank. It had been some time in my early childhood on one of our family vacations, but other than that, I had no idea. I was going to have to give my mom a call and see what I could learn. The necklace had always just been there—when I slept, when I swam, on my first date, and even at prom—like a friendship bracelet that you tie on and don't remove until it falls off with wear. The piece became a part of me. Except this wasn’t a simple friendship bracelet, and it was evidently not going to come off anytime soon.

Chapter Seven THE NURSES’ STATION GAVE ME THE NUMBER OF ASHLEY’S RECOVERY ROOM and pointed me in the right direction. When I entered her room, she was mindlessly staring out the window. “Hey, Ash! How are you feeling?” Relief flooded me at seeing my best friend, and I began to choke up. Knowing she wasn’t crazy about tears, I stifled the emotion as I bent over and gave my girl a hug. “Oh, thank God! They won’t let me watch television or anything— something about a concussion and letting my brain heal. I’m bored out of my mind already, and they want to keep me another whole day. Then there’s the fact that I have to wear this damn cast for a month.” She pouted the last part as we both glanced down at the shoulder-to-wrist white plaster. “They didn’t even give me a choice of colors.” I grinned, knowing that a sassy Ashley was a great sign. “Well, at least you're left-handed.” I shrugged. “That's got to be a first. It usually sucks being left-handed.” I scooted myself up onto her bed and trailed my fingers gently down her cast. “I’m so glad you're feeling better. You scared me last night.” “I was pretty scared myself,” she said quietly. “What happened after I got KO-ed?”